diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/store/backend_ssl.go b/internal/ingress/controller/store/backend_ssl.go
index 93cdfdad9..a422e3f2e 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/store/backend_ssl.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/store/backend_ssl.go
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func (s *k8sStore) getPemCertificate(secretName string) (*ingress.SSLCert, error
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected error creating SSL Cert: %v", err)
 		}
 
-		if !s.isDynamicCertificatesEnabled || len(ca) > 0 {
+		if !s.isDynamicCertificatesEnabled || len(ca) > 0 || s.defaultSSLCertificate == secretName {
 			err = ssl.StoreSSLCertOnDisk(s.filesystem, nsSecName, sslCert)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error while storing certificate and key: %v", err)
diff --git a/test/e2e/defaultbackend/custom_default_backend.go b/test/e2e/defaultbackend/custom_default_backend.go
index 02319f612..463d302ae 100644
--- a/test/e2e/defaultbackend/custom_default_backend.go
+++ b/test/e2e/defaultbackend/custom_default_backend.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/ingress-nginx/test/e2e/framework"
 )
 
-var _ = framework.IngressNginxDescribe("Dynamic Certificate", func() {
+var _ = framework.IngressNginxDescribe("Custom Default Backend", func() {
 	f := framework.NewDefaultFramework("custom-default-backend")
 
 	BeforeEach(func() {
diff --git a/test/e2e/settings/default_ssl_certificate.go b/test/e2e/settings/default_ssl_certificate.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1672ea2fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/settings/default_ssl_certificate.go
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package settings
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	appsv1beta1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta1"
+
+	"k8s.io/ingress-nginx/test/e2e/framework"
+)
+
+var _ = framework.IngressNginxDescribe("Default SSL Certificate", func() {
+	f := framework.NewDefaultFramework("default-ssl-certificate")
+	secretName := "my-custom-cert"
+
+	BeforeEach(func() {
+		f.NewEchoDeploymentWithReplicas(1)
+
+		tlsConfig, err := framework.CreateIngressTLSSecret(f.KubeClientSet,
+			[]string{"*"},
+			secretName,
+			f.Namespace)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+		framework.UpdateDeployment(f.KubeClientSet, f.Namespace, "nginx-ingress-controller", 1,
+			func(deployment *appsv1beta1.Deployment) error {
+				args := deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Args
+				args = append(args, "--default-ssl-certificate=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/"+secretName)
+				deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Args = args
+				_, err := f.KubeClientSet.AppsV1beta1().Deployments(f.Namespace).Update(deployment)
+
+				return err
+			})
+
+		// this asserts that it configures default custom ssl certificate without an ingress at all
+		framework.WaitForTLS(f.GetURL(framework.HTTPS), tlsConfig)
+	})
+
+	It("configures ssl certificate for catch-all ingress", func() {
+		ing := framework.NewSingleCatchAllIngress("catch-all", f.Namespace, "http-svc", 80, nil)
+		f.EnsureIngress(ing)
+
+		sslCertificate := fmt.Sprintf("ssl_certificate /etc/ingress-controller/ssl/%s-%s.pem;", f.Namespace, secretName)
+		sslCertificateKey := fmt.Sprintf("ssl_certificate_key /etc/ingress-controller/ssl/%s-%s.pem;", f.Namespace, secretName)
+		f.WaitForNginxServer("_", func(cfg string) bool {
+			return strings.Contains(cfg, sslCertificate) && strings.Contains(cfg, sslCertificateKey)
+		})
+	})
+
+	It("configures ssl certificate for host based ingress with tls spec", func() {
+		host := "foo"
+
+		ing := f.EnsureIngress(framework.NewSingleIngressWithTLS(host, "/", host, []string{host}, f.Namespace, "http-svc", 80, nil))
+		tlsConfig, err := framework.CreateIngressTLSSecret(f.KubeClientSet,
+			ing.Spec.TLS[0].Hosts,
+			ing.Spec.TLS[0].SecretName,
+			ing.Namespace)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+		framework.WaitForTLS(f.GetURL(framework.HTTPS), tlsConfig)
+
+		sslCertificate := fmt.Sprintf("ssl_certificate /etc/ingress-controller/ssl/%s-%s.pem;", f.Namespace, secretName)
+		sslCertificateKey := fmt.Sprintf("ssl_certificate_key /etc/ingress-controller/ssl/%s-%s.pem;", f.Namespace, secretName)
+		f.WaitForNginxServer(host, func(cfg string) bool {
+			return strings.Contains(cfg, "server_name foo") && strings.Contains(cfg, sslCertificate) && strings.Contains(cfg, sslCertificateKey)
+		})
+	})
+})